Gig Etiquette Rant...

[neddyrow]

I have been gigging for almost 20 years and one of the most important rules is, stay off the stage until the band before you has cleared all their gear before you start setting up.

Cut to yesterday - we are playing a festival spot and the drummer of the band going on next, starts bringing his kit on stage and is setting it up off to the side during most of our set. Half the time he is aimlessly wandering around making sure everything is there and keep re adjusting the location of items in his kit. So distracting!

Now, we are a single-mic bluegrass band and I have a DI. We are two inputs. Our setup and teardown is not even 5 minutes. The organizers were so happy about it because they were a little behind schedule. But this guy, who apparently is the BL thinks it's OK to be on the stage while we were playing. It was not a big stage and the guy was less than 10 feet from our guitar player.

It's not like this was a young player or new musician. He had to be in his 60s. And there was plenty of room right next to the stage as where the guitar and bass players were staging their amps and stands.

I kept my mouth shut as our condenser picks up everything on stage but, I wanted to say, "excuse me, this is an active stage right now. you know, with us performing on it."

Doesn't everyone know this rule of decorum when sharing a stage with another band?

Guess not.

Rant over.

 

[turf3]

I would have just said "Get off the stage!" Don't care if the audience hears.

 

[4SG]

Unacceptable. I'd have confronted the guy, even mid-set.

 

[TerenceE]

Ya man. Not acceptable.

 

[neddyrow]

Thank you! I was going crazy. and I felt crazy to think that.

I wanted to say something so bad but I was taught to respect my elders and always be a professional even though I'm 46.

 

[TerenceE]

Thank you! I was going crazy. and I felt crazy to think that.

I wanted to say something so bad but I was taught to respect my elders and always be a professional even though I'm 46.

Age doesn’t fix stupid. Nothing fixes stupid lol. And really, you would have been doing every other band as well as this guys band a solid by noting that there’s no way that anyone not in the band or the sound crew should ever be on stage when there’s a performance going on. Like *** lol?

 

[Jay Corwin]

That's total nonsense. I've had some similar experiences with wannabeoverthehill cover band rock stars in my neck.

 

[gln1955]

The festival organizers should have been on top of that and dealt with the doofus.

 

[gln1955]

From another angle, my band played a festival a few weeks ago and the band on before us took forever to get their gear off-stage. There was easy access off the back of the stage to an open area. The drummer, instead of carrying his kit to the open area off stage, tore down and packed everything on stage. The guitarist had a ginormous pedal board with two amps and also packed every item up before leaving the stage. I knew folks in this band and it was not their first rodeo doing the shared stage thing. The shows were already running late and this just made things worse.

 

[Slevage]

From another angle, my band played a festival a few weeks ago and the band on before us took forever to get their gear off-stage. There was easy access off the back of the stage to an open area. The drummer, instead of carrying his kit to the open area off stage, tore down and packed everything on stage. The guitarist had a ginormous pedal board with two amps and also packed every item up before leaving the stage. I knew folks in this band and it was not their first rodeo doing the shared stage thing. The shows were already running late and this just made things worse.

That band was either in experienced or just idiots.
That's up to the person in charge to take charge.

 

[Slevage]

The drummer should have been assembling his gear off stage. Total disrespect for fellow musicians.

I agree that the person running the show should have taken charge.

I've done a few multiple band gigs in my years, many of them in high profile venues.
There is always a "stage manager" calling logistical shots.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I have been gigging since 1981 and in all but the diviest of bars, what you describe is bad form.

The reason I excluded dive bars is because: as we all know, dive bars are an "anything goes" zone.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

years ago, my band opened up for Dee Syder's short-lived "Widowmaker" band at a tiny club called, I think, The Livewire, in Millbrook ny. Whoever the guitarist was, he was backstage warming up through a 100watt marshall half stack during our entire set. Could hear his guitar over our entire band. Dee was an absolute tool as well. Good times

 

[bassfran]

I applaud your restraint. My favorites are the “slowly wraps cable after set whilst greeting adoring fans” types. I have barked at these clowns more than once to get the eff outta’ the way as I’m working to set up.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Mutli-band events are a crapshoot and so many things can go wrong. Thankfully we've only been involved in a couple with a 50/50 rating on the experience.

What the OP described is bad form, no doubt.

 

[Ostie]

From another angle, my band played a festival a few weeks ago and the band on before us took forever to get their gear off-stage. There was easy access off the back of the stage to an open area. The drummer, instead of carrying his kit to the open area off stage, tore down and packed everything on stage. The guitarist had a ginormous pedal board with two amps and also packed every item up before leaving the stage. I knew folks in this band and it was not their first rodeo doing the shared stage thing. The shows were already running late and this just made things worse.

That guy was was a jerk. He should have moved everything off and then packed.

I played a gig last Saturday night. The organizer had a designated staging area so that we didn’t have to wait for the previous band to pack up. Just get their stuff off stage, and get ours on stage. It saves a lot of time.

 

[Gluvhand]

years ago, my band opened up for Dee Syder's short-lived "Widowmaker" band at a tiny club called, I think, The Livewire, in Millbrook ny. Whoever the guitarist was, he was backstage warming up through a 100watt marshall half stack during our entire set. Could hear his guitar over our entire band. Dee was an absolute tool as well. Good times

Lol. Yes. Dee is a tool. I’m surprised about the guitarist though. That would’ve been Al Pitrelli who is a pretty good guy with tons of experience. Working with Dee could bring out the tool in anyone.

 

[newwavefrank]

I played a gig last Saturday night. The organizer had a designated staging area so that we didn’t have to wait for the previous band to pack up. Just get their stuff off stage, and get ours on stage. It saves a lot of time.

That's the way it supposed to work. Thankfully it usually does, but sometimes you play after the drummer that doesn't understand the concept.

 

[GreyBeard]

A-holes come in all ages

 

[richntiff]

It's acceptable and fully expected that the next band can and should stage their gear to the side/behind/etc of the band currently performing. It's unacceptable to bring gear or your person onto the stage, or in front of it. Anybody that's played a festival/multi-band kind of thing should be well aware of this.

On the flip side - when you are done, and there is a band following you - GET OFF THE STAGE ASAP. Don't stand there like an idjit, roadie wrapping your cords, chatting with an audience member, etc etc etc. Move your gear to the side as quickly as possible - then take part in your little post gig rituals. This happened to my band on Labor Day. We were playing an outdoors gig under a big tent. No actual stage, but a dedicated corner for the bands. The act before was a two piece - singer/songwriter with a EUB sideman. The singer/songwriter is widely regarded to be the best in the area. He's EXCELLENT. Personally I like him very much, great guy all around. But they got done - played 15 minutes past their time slot (they were to done at 2, we played at 3). They played until 2:15, then proceeded to chat and very very slowly pack up their gear and amble to the side. I was really suprised and disappointed. We had staged behind and to the side of them - ready to roll. We managed to get going by 3:15 with no sound check - I think we setup in 25 minutes, not bad for a 5 piece band with a full kit.

I think the key is just really to follow the golden rule. Treat the band before/after you the way you would hope they would treat you. Be considerate.